The Lipstick Economyhttps://jamiedunham.wordpress.com
Marketing to Women, the Power SpendersThu, 12 Mar 2015 16:57:06 +0000enhourly1http://wordpress.com/https://secure.gravatar.com/blavatar/04dc735eb2bc1dd4fc7729f8c7a69c2c?s=96&d=https%3A%2F%2Fs2.wp.com%2Fi%2Fbuttonw-com.pngThe Lipstick Economyhttps://jamiedunham.wordpress.com
Ten New Trends for Women Travelershttps://jamiedunham.wordpress.com/2015/03/10/ten-new-trends-for-women-travelers/
https://jamiedunham.wordpress.com/2015/03/10/ten-new-trends-for-women-travelers/#commentsTue, 10 Mar 2015 16:42:37 +0000http://jamiedunham.wordpress.com/?p=4534]]>Women are traveling more than they have ever before. Travel experts think that women represent the most important and fastest growing segment of the travel market, in terms of both leisure and business travel.

Phyllis Stoller is truly an expert on women travelers. As head of The Women’s Travel Group since 1992, she is on the front line of travel trends and shares her Top Ten 2015 observations with us. She says that women continue to lead in researching their trips, are seeking more exotic destinations, and are more interested in a healthy diet while traveling. Understanding these trends is important to marketing to women travelers.

Here are her top ten new trends:

Live for today spending. Overall, a carpe diem mentality is surpassing budget concerns. Maybe it is the economy or maybe single women are finally more affluent. A recent article in the NY Times examined the lifestyle of a healthcare employee, concluding that her higher-per-hour salary put her in a strong financial position for increased spending. And we are seeing these more affluent women traveling. These women are in a professional position that allows for more discretionary spending.

Women are requesting specific experiences. Online review sites are helping define and prioritize what women will do with their time on a trip, even where they will shop. I have seen actual shopping lists with specific names of oversea stores. Online reviews encourage list making. We observe women listing specific places they want to visit on an itinerary, rather than stating just a destination like Tuscany.

We still see unusual trips selling out fastest. The idea of leaving ‘your comfort zone’ has leaked into travel. A frisson, even a little scary, is a draw for many women. Women are seeking unusual and new destinations while men are more satisfied with more predictable golf resort destinations. Women are also looking for more intellectual stimulation and experience in their travel; 75% of those who take cultural, adventure or nature trips are women.

Healthy diet on the road is increasingly important. As regional cuisine has become more sophisticated throughout the US, fine dining overseas is less of a priority, unless it comes with an experience (famous farm meal, known winery, cooking demo).

Hotel amenities become part of the travel experience. Along with the more liberal spending for travel, we notice women are again using hotel amenities like spa services. Their enjoyment of travel extends beyond the last tour, as women pack use of the hotel into each day. Today’s working women seek quality hotels and services equivalent or better than their business travel standards.

Smartphones are the new travel accessory. Everyone has a smart phone. Older women will actually get their smart phone before a trip as part of their travel gear. Wifi is the new umbilical cord for many. Entering a lovely hotel with wifi, women will look at their phones before admiring the lobby.

Solo travelers still penalized. The single supplement is still an issue regarding cost and availability. Women are frequently penalized with a premium applied by some travel companies for traveling alone. Sharing is an option many still choose. But with a stronger economy, the single cost is slightly less formidable this year.

No age limit for traveling. We see women 80+ still happy to travel and not just on cruises. As an FYI, three women of this age group went to India with us October 2014 along with other women aged 40+.

Airline upgrades are more frequent among women. Maybe the upgrades are a sign of the economy or extra frequent flyer miles. But the upgrades are also a trend of not being afraid to spend money on one’s self.

]]>https://jamiedunham.wordpress.com/2015/03/10/ten-new-trends-for-women-travelers/feed/2jamiedunhamphyllis photo correctSmartphone is Smart Tool for Travel Researchhttps://jamiedunham.wordpress.com/2015/03/10/smartphone-is-smart-tool-for-travel-research/
https://jamiedunham.wordpress.com/2015/03/10/smartphone-is-smart-tool-for-travel-research/#commentsTue, 10 Mar 2015 06:32:16 +0000http://jamiedunham.wordpress.com/?p=4530]]>The smartphone has become the go-to tool for travel and travel planning. Some 85% of American travelers reported using smartphones while on holiday, while just 46% reported using tablets.

Travel Bragging?

Sixty-one percent (61%) of travelers report using social media while on vacation because most don’t want to miss out on any of their friends’ or families’ news while away, and 10 percent (10%) want to make their friends jealous with their travel updates.

When traveling, we are still using our smartphones for calling and texting. But we are also looking for restaurants, posting those great pictures on Facebook, looking for travel sites and reading reviews. Once we are at our destination, some 58% of leisure travelers use online sources to evaluate local activities.

Going Mobile

Travel professionals are trying to make their mobile offerings a priority. And for good reason, the top mobile offerings U.S. travelers are looking for from a travel business are a mobile-friendly website, ability to book and special offers.

According to Trip Advisor, the top five apps we use for travel planning are travel advice/recommendation like TripAdvisor, weather, hotel/accommodation, airline and activity.

So it is no surprise, that 2015 will be the tipping point for digital travel research. eMarketer reports half of digital travel researchers will check out flights, hotels and more, not just on a laptop or desktop, but also on a mobile device. By 2018, 71% of travel research will be mobile.

]]>https://jamiedunham.wordpress.com/2015/03/10/smartphone-is-smart-tool-for-travel-research/feed/0jamiedunhamHiResMarketing Healthcare to Women: Google Search Joins with Mayo Clinichttps://jamiedunham.wordpress.com/2015/02/21/marketing-healthcare-to-women-google-search-joins-with-mayo-clinic/
https://jamiedunham.wordpress.com/2015/02/21/marketing-healthcare-to-women-google-search-joins-with-mayo-clinic/#commentsSat, 21 Feb 2015 19:40:46 +0000http://jamiedunham.wordpress.com/?p=4522]]>Google has partnered with the Mayo Clinic to deliver health information through search in a totally new way to provide more information on symptoms and treatment. This change, which began on February 10, will certainly set a new bar for how Americans seek information and medical facilities respond.

Rather than relying on information resulting from a regular search, Google has taken the position that health information needs to be presented in a different and more reliable way. Mayo Clinic has partnered with Google to review all the information provided. Now, when a consumer does a search, they will see an expanded box next to their Google search on desktop and more detailed information on the Google app.

According to Google, “the box will be filled with enhanced information culled from throughout the web, verified by multiple physicians and, finally, signed off by doctors from Mayo. Altogether, an average of 11.1 physicians have inspected and approved the information Google will now present.”

The information may include special illustrations, symptoms and treatments. Google is beginning with 400 medical conditions which will inform about 10% of current health searches.

This initiative is huge in Google taking charge of making information more accurate. Here are some of the reasons why Google has made this change:

3. The most commonly-researched topics are specific diseases or conditions, treatments or procedures, and doctors for health professionals.

4. 35% of US adult say that they have gone online specifically to try to figure out what medical condition they have or someone else has.

5. One in five internet users have consulted online reviews and/or rankings of healthcare providers/treatments.

6. 31% of cell phone owners, and 52% of smartphone owners, have used their phone to look up health or medical information.

The technology that Google is using is part of the Knowledge Graph which links searches to connected information. Now, you currently see this technology at work when you see the box of information to the right of a search results displayed for a celebrity or famous personality.

]]>https://jamiedunham.wordpress.com/2015/02/21/marketing-healthcare-to-women-google-search-joins-with-mayo-clinic/feed/0jamiedunhamScreenshot 2015-02-18 19.46.10Is Advertising Finally Accepting All Body Types?https://jamiedunham.wordpress.com/2015/02/10/is-advertising-finally-accepting-all-body-types/
https://jamiedunham.wordpress.com/2015/02/10/is-advertising-finally-accepting-all-body-types/#commentsTue, 10 Feb 2015 23:18:23 +0000http://jamiedunham.wordpress.com/?p=4508]]>There is always a Nashville connection. This week Sports Illustrated has taken over downtown Nashville for its first bash in honor of its America the Beautiful 2015 swimsuit issue. At the same time, the magazine is also making news for including a so-called plus-size model in a swimsuit and a true plus-size model in an ad in this year’s edition.

Is advertising finally accepting that the average size of an American women is 12-14?

The models shown on the runway and in magazines like Sports Illustrated represent less than 5% of women in the US. A traditional sample size used on the runway and in magazines is a 0-2. Even famous actresses know that to snag a couture gown for the Oscar runway, you have to be a size 2.

I have never bought a Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue before, but I had to see this one. The debut of the Sports Illustrated model Robyn Lawley was hailed as historic – the first time in history a model beyond a traditional sample size has appeared in the swimsuit issue.

So here’s the scoop. In the 220-page magazine, there are three pictures of Robyn Lawley, a size 12. That’s a size 12 spread over 6 feet, 2 inches, not the average 5 foot, 4 inch woman. Thankfully, neither Sports Illustrated or Robyn uses the term “plus size”, because she is clearly not plus size. Robyn likes “curvy”, and says she is interested in seeing a variety of sizes of women in ads. She said that the exposure is “a step in the right direction.”

But the real story is Ashley Graham, the SwimsuitsForAll model, featured in a two-page spread in the magazine. Ashley is termed a larger-than-average model. She is a 5’ 9”, size 16 and has been featured in Vogue and Glamour. Graham says “the world is ready for more curves in bikinis.” Ashley actively campaigns for women to embrace their bodies no matter what the shape, and has helped found ALDA, a coalition of models promoting a healthy body image for women.

It seems that there is a positive movement to represent more average size women. Calvin Klein recently chose a size 10 model to appear in that company’s underwear ads. And in January, Target launched a plus-size clothing line, Ava & Viv, selecting three plus-size bloggers to model the campaign.

“I really hope this opens up doors for not just skinny girls with big boobs, but for girls with big hips and thighs,” says Graham, “That’s what we have in America.

Let’s say hooray for body positive messages like Graham and Meghan Trainor’s hit song “It’s All About That Bass.” Wake up Victoria Secret. There is life beyond size 2.

Oh, by the way, I would show you the cover, but there is nothing average or real about it.

]]>https://jamiedunham.wordpress.com/2015/02/10/is-advertising-finally-accepting-all-body-types/feed/1jamiedunhamIMG_1286IMG_1284Marketing to Women: Young Single Women Donors More Generoushttps://jamiedunham.wordpress.com/2014/12/16/marketing-to-women-young-single-women-donors-more-generous/
https://jamiedunham.wordpress.com/2014/12/16/marketing-to-women-young-single-women-donors-more-generous/#commentsWed, 17 Dec 2014 02:15:43 +0000http://jamiedunham.wordpress.com/?p=4505]]>There is a new study reported in The Chronicle of Philanthropy identifying a rising group of charitable donors. The study finds “Millennial and Generation X women who are single and unaffiliated with a religion give two-and-a-half times more money to charity than their older, similarly secular counterparts, according to the report, which looked exclusively at unmarried donors. Their giving also doubles that of peers who have loose ties to a religion.”

For many years, it has been reported that people of faith gave more than unchurched individuals, so this report indicates that intensity of faith may not be as strong an indicator of giving as previously thought.

It seems that young single women may be bucking the trend, but there may be other factors at play as well. Young single women may represent a growing group of highly educated, high income women who have decided to defer marriage. This group of Single Indies represent some 28 million women, or one out of three adult women, who spend around $1 trillion each year. They may have more disposable income and be predisposed to charitable interests.

The report also cites that one-third of Americans under 30 have no religious affiliation.

Clearly, for non-profits, this group of younger women represent an opportunity for both giving and volunteer activities. Marketing should recognize and speak to this power group.

Shopping local is more than a trend. It is growing for several reasons. Shopping local is good for business, good for the environment and good for our desire to find one-of-a-kind, meaningful products.

Good for Business

Local shopping is not insignificant. In a world of online shopping and big box retailers, the 23 million independent stores in America account for 54 percent of sales. These independent stores provide 55 percent of jobs, and 66 percent of all net new jobs since the 1970s.

One study says that local business generates 70% more local economic activity per square foot than big box retail. Keeping dollars in the local economy has been the rally cry for small business. My friend Linda Berry, owner of fine linen store Bella Linea in Nashville, Tennessee, recently shared some of the facts with her customers to reinforce the importance of keeping dollars in her community. She shared statistics showing that for every $100 spent at a locally owned store, $45 remains in the local economy, compared with about $13 per $100 spent at a big box and almost zero for online shopping.

A movement around Shopping Local has begun. American Express founded Small Business Saturday in 2010 to encourage consumers to visit small businesses in their community as part of the after Thanksgiving shopping. This year shopping local has grown double digits. A report from the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) and American Express – the Small Business Saturday Consumer Insights Survey – revealed that 88 million consumers “shopped small” this year, up 14.9 percent from just a year ago.

Good for Our Need for One-of-A-Kind Finds and One-of-A-Kind Experiences

Many retailers like Linda Berry also talk about the importance of meeting needs for today’s shoppers. Linda spends time traveling to find and create one-of-kind products that her customers can’t find anywhere else. Services like free designer consultation and free gift wrapping make small businesses like Bella Linea stand out among the mass marketers.

Trends like eating local and the Maker Movement also continue to provide unique goods and experiences that meet the desires of today’s consumer. The Maker Movement really captures the group of people creating individually made pieces for the home, small-batch food products, hand-knit, handmade and hand crafted items that can’t be mass produced.

Food has gone local with independent restaurants, local food purveyors, handmade food products and farmers markets proliferating. Beyond the food, food experiences have become custom as well. There are food tours, hands-on cooking lessons and small batch wine classes.

Good for the Environment

And, surprisingly, shopping local is also good for the environment. Shopping locally helps cut down on processing, packaging and transportation waste, leading to less pollution and less fuel consumption.

So, with just a few days of the shopping season left, visit a local store and make a difference in your community.

]]>https://jamiedunham.wordpress.com/2014/12/16/marketing-to-women-why-shopping-local-is-important/feed/0jamiedunhamLinda Berry, Bella Linea OwnerShop-Local-This-Christmas-300x278Marketing to Women: More than a Numberhttps://jamiedunham.wordpress.com/2014/11/15/marketing-to-women-more-than-a-number/
https://jamiedunham.wordpress.com/2014/11/15/marketing-to-women-more-than-a-number/#commentsSun, 16 Nov 2014 00:29:05 +0000http://jamiedunham.wordpress.com/?p=4492]]>I don’t often talk about a single television spot but the Special K “More than a number” campaign has generated a spot that really defines women as more than sizes or numbers. Special K and their agency Leo Burnett actually created a pop-up store for women buying jeans. The proposition is real. Women fear only one thing more than shopping for jeans and that is shopping for a swimsuit. They talk about depressing feelings related to the shopping experience. Every woman I know talks about fat jeans, comfortable jeans and skinny jeans, but Special K has tried to change the language.

Hidden cameras capture women as they are shopping in the pop-up store. A surprising thing happens when they find out there are no sizes on the jeans. Their whole attitude changes when they find out that the jeans are not sized in numbers but in words like “fabulous”, “confident”, and “radiant”. The women were free from numbers and were affirmed that they were beautiful.

As women, our self-esteem and confidence is enhanced when we are not tied to old tapes we play in our head. And advertising can play a role in establishing new self affirming roles for women.

Research shows that if we feel more attractive, we are more confident. Jane Risen, an associate professor of behavioral science at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, says “The most relevant study that comes to mind for me is a classic study looking at self-fulfilling prophecies,” she said. Men and women had a 10-minute conversation, via headphones and microphones so they couldn’t see each other. Before the chat, the men were given fake pictures, so half of them believed they were talking to an attractive woman, and the other half an unattractive woman.

“The most remarkable finding was that an independent set of coders who listened only to the women (and didn’t see a picture) also thought that the women who were supposedly more attractive were more friendly and sociable,” Riser said. “In other words, being perceived by the men as attractive lead the women to act differently such that other people came to believe the same thing that the men believed.”

]]>https://jamiedunham.wordpress.com/2014/11/15/marketing-to-women-more-than-a-number/feed/0jamiedunham1983Marketing to Women: Tipping Point for 2014 Holiday Shoppinghttps://jamiedunham.wordpress.com/2014/10/21/marketing-to-women-tipping-point-for-2014-holiday-shopping/
https://jamiedunham.wordpress.com/2014/10/21/marketing-to-women-tipping-point-for-2014-holiday-shopping/#commentsTue, 21 Oct 2014 12:37:13 +0000http://jamiedunham.wordpress.com/?p=4483]]>The 2014 holiday shopping season will be a tipping point for online shopping.A PwC report finds that 41% of shoppers plan to spend more online this year than they did last year. In fact, more than two-thirds of today’s shoppers are omnichannel, easily shifting between their mobile technology and physical stores. There are conflicting reports on the size of this year’s holiday spending. The National Retail Federation is calling for holiday sales to rise 4.1%, the largest jump in three years. Online sales are expected to grow between 8-11%. PwC is not so optimistic, calling for an actual decrease in spending.

While you may think millennials are doing a lot of this online shopping, think again. Millennials only represent 18% of planned spending. It’s GenX and Boomer shoppers who will be leading the charge.

Estimates point to 43% of all spending will be online with 40% of consumers falling into a category called trade-off shoppers. Trade-off shoppers will do most of their research online and will buy online if the product is cheaper than in stores; another 32% are considered primary online shoppers; and 29% of shoppers will prefer going to the stores, after a little online browsing. Actual spending in-store will decrease from 55% in 2013 to 50% this year, but the individuals shopping in-store are likely to spend more. One important consideration is the whopping 15+ hours shoppers spend online researching purchases. Consider what that means for product descriptions, photography and selection.

Four Waves of Spending

The coming holiday season will have only 26 days between Black Friday and Christmas, just one more than last year and five fewer than 2012. That is important for all retailers as the compare same store sales. Black Friday is the #1 in-store shopping day during the holiday season. The next most important dates, according to a 2013 MasterCard SpendingPulse report, are December 21 and 23. Tuesdays and Wednesdays are the most popular days for online shopping, and Fridays and Saturdays are the top days overall for in-store holiday shopping. There are four distinct time periods for spending this year – Pre-Thanksgiving, Black Friday, Mid-Holiday, and Post-Holiday. Early shopping represents 21% of all holiday spending. The week of Black Friday will represent 21% of spending. Mid-Holiday is the traditional December shopping period where 50% of spending happens, with much of it in the last ten days before Christmas. And those bargain shoppers are 8% of the shopping dollars.

What Do People Want for the Holidays?

According to the National Retail Federation, for the eighth year in a row, gift cards will be the most requested gift item for the holidays. Sixty-two percent say they would like to receive a gift card, followed by clothing (52.5%), books, CDs, DVDs or video games (43.1%), and electronics (34.6%). And one-quarter (24.8%) would like to receive jewelry.

How to Be Prepared This Season

There are some important ways you can help this season’s shoppers.

1. Embrace online connectivity. Online experience means both your online presence but your connectedness in-store. Make sure Wi-Fi is available and sales staff are available with mobile devices to check out your customers. Make sure your cybersecurity is up-to-date. And make sure your online shopping is easy to navigate, informative and provides simple check-out. One-quarter of shoppers say easy-to-use mobile websites is an important factor in their decision to shop with a specific retailer, and 40% of Black Friday online shopping was mobile. And don’t forget free shipping. It is more important than the delivery date.

2. Create a differentiated in-store experience. Make sure your store personnel are knowledgeable, your merchandise is in-stock and easy to shop, the atmosphere is festive friendly, and your merchandising is distinctive and memorable. Think about personalization and special add-on services that simplify the gifting experience.

3. Make sure your offerings represent value. Shoppers still have a deal mindset based on best prices and seasonal deals, so your innovation, unique selections, bundling and convenient shopping experience will be important to take you from a commodity purchase to a brand purchase. Special deals will continue to be important to drive shoppers to your store. Reward your best customers with special perks for shopping with you.

4. Provide messaging consistent with your brand. A consistent promotional look and feel that reflects your brand is important in creating greater impact with your customer.

]]>https://jamiedunham.wordpress.com/2014/10/21/marketing-to-women-tipping-point-for-2014-holiday-shopping/feed/1jamiedunhamTablet_Santa_Running_300_jpg_280x280_crop_q95Are TV and Digital Still Going Steady?https://jamiedunham.wordpress.com/2014/10/08/are-tv-and-digital-still-going-steady/
https://jamiedunham.wordpress.com/2014/10/08/are-tv-and-digital-still-going-steady/#commentsWed, 08 Oct 2014 23:46:09 +0000http://jamiedunham.wordpress.com/?p=4475]]>There is so much talk about the close relationship between television and your second screen but new reports show that the relationship may not always be as close as we think. We need to understand our target audience and what they are doing on that second screen.

Television and Twitter.

We might think the top shows have the most Twitter traffic but that’s not always the case, it depends on the audience. While CBS had five of the top ten broadcast shows for the 2013-2014 season, they don’t have the most Twitter active crowd. You see, CBS has an older audience among networks, with a median viewer age of 58. And it follows, older adults use Twitter less. Pew Research says 9% of Americans 50-64 and 5% of those 65 and older used Twitter in 2013, compared to 31% of those 18-29 and 19% of those 30-49.

Who did have the highest Twitter traffic? Blockbuster events that cross many age groups like the Super Bowl, the Grammys and the Oscars score high on Twitter usage. The Super Bowl had 1.8 billion tweets and Ellen DeGeneres selfie-stunt was shared some 1.1 million times and even knocked Twitter offline for a few minutes. “Breaking Bad” had the highest traffic for a single airing of a show and of course, it was the finale. And that amazing Bryan Cranston had 6 million followers. Other popular Twitter shows include “Walking Dead”, “Pretty Little Liars”, “The Bachelor”, “Game of Thrones”, “Teen Wolf”, “American Horror Story”, “Scandal” and “Dancing with the Stars”. These shows have a younger audience and some of them use Twitter in an interesting way. Variety reports “The Voice” set a record for most tweets during their May 13 telecast. Some 1.92 million posted #VoiceSave to rescue their favorite contestant. Nielsen research shows the volume of tweets can relate to statistically significant increases in live ratings in some 39% of the episodes tested.

Twitter has their own study that says 48% of Twitter users said that after seeing a brand’s on-air ad they were more likely to remember seeing a tweet from that brand.

Television and the Second Screen

The most common use of digital is while we are watching TV, but it doesn’t always mean our activity is directly related to the show or ad we happen to have onscreen. According to 2014 Millard Brown study, some 78% of US internet users accessed second screens during shows, compared with 71% who did so during ads. And it seems that most of our second screen viewing happens during the show, not during previews, credits or commercials.

What are we doing online while watching TV? We are reading our email, checking into social media, texting, calling someone, searching online and shopping. Only some 4-7% of viewers are actually looking at the product being advertised. So, it seems that a large percentage of our second screen time is not triggered by the program or advertising calls to action. When we plan synergistic activities, we should understand our demographic and their online habits to know how best to interact with them.

My daughter Katie often sends me pictures of her fabulous vintage finds like a folkloric skirt from the 50s or a cocktail dress from the 60s. She is one of many milliennials regularly frequenting shops that specialize in vintage, retro and thrift clothing.

One of the shops Shareen Vintage of Los Angeles describes their vintage wonderland as the creative center of a secret society of women who love to be at the cutting edge of fashion trends. In their store, clothing is divided by decades, starting in the 1920s through the 1990s, providing a living retrospect to fashion. Another store Re-mix Classic Vintage Footwear actually started out selling vintage shoes, but when demand outpaced their stock, they began having their own 20s – 50s vintage designs manufactured for women demanding more of the vintage looks.

Millennials have embraced Thrift Style, a fashion movement that incorporates several trends with their desire to be an individual. Research by Ypulse shows that 36% of Millennials find thrift shopping cool and 56% of Millennials say that thrift shopping is a great way to find cheap and unique clothes.

Six Key Trends Shaping Millennial Shopping

1. The end of conspicuous branding and the rise of personal style. Some 55% of people between 13 and 34 say they don’t follow trends. Millennials want to stand out and prize individualism over “fitting in.” With access to global stores like Abercrombie and Fitch are having problems enticing millennials because their fashions are seen as ubiquitous and too high priced for their taste. A big logo is no longer a coveted status symbol. Finding something completely original is the goal of trendsetters today. A thrift store find is both unique and rare. Even celebrities have contributed to the vintage culture by wearing vintage couture to big events like the Oscars and Grammys.

2. Saving money is cool. There is no surprise that 60% of millennials worldwide feel personally influenced by the economic crisis. So the ability to save money and find a personl look are added bonuses of thrift shopping. Shoppers pride themselves on smart finds at great prices. In fact, because of the durability of the items, they are actually seen as an investment in higher quality goods.

3. Sustainability. There is a decided movement against the “disposable culture” of throwaway plastic bags and planned obsolescence of electronics. Shoppers don’t really care if their retail purchases are over-wrapped or put into paper or plastic for transport. They are fine with foregoing some of the traditional trappings of the retail environment. Vintage items are often seen as being constructed better and made out of high quality fabrics. And the ability to recycle things of the past helps cutdown on their personal footprint in society.

4. Nostalgia for better times. In an unconscious way, milllennials are drawn to simpler times. Those who lived during the first Strawberry Shortcake period remember it with fondness and positive memories. For those who did not experience the 50s and 60s, the vintage look recalls a time of stability and lack of stress. Here in Nashville you can buy and experience a little slice of Grand Ole Opry history by just shopping at Katy’s Western Wear.

5. Personalization and DIY. Personal style means personalization. And, influenced by programming such as Project Runway, millennials turn to online sites such as Etsy and eBay for fun finds. These shoppers and designers can express their own creativity by reworking clothes with sewing, knitting, embellishing and dying their finds. Some 22% of Millennials say they often modify, cut up or embellish their clothing.

6. Purchases with a Purpose. Thrift stores are getting a millennial makeover to appeal to young shoppers who like to shop with a purpose. The idea that the YWCA can help women, Goodwill trains disadvantaged for retail jobs or ThriftSmart actually gives their proceeds to real charities is an appealing proposition to millennials who want to make a difference in the world around them.

Retailers and marketers alike need to understand the way Millennials shop and how best to appeal to their interests.